Plan a Visit
Gallery Guides
With so many things to do and see, it is difficult to cover the whole museum in one visit! To help teachers focus museum trips, Adler Education staff created standards-based guides designed around the museum's central themes. These guides are self-directed and will take you and your students or family on a journey through the galleries while calling special attention to science themes.
Due to the installation of new exhibits, certain exhibit components may be unavailable during your visit.
The downloadable cards are a way to guide exploration of the Our Solar System gallery. They are intended for use with visitors in 3rd grade or higher divided into groups of 4-10 students. The teacher, chaperone, or group leader can use the prompts on the card to guide students as they explore the exhibits pictured on the card. We recommend giving students time for free exploration of the gallery before organizing them to work on the cards. Each card includes the following sections:
- Scientists at Work helps students understand the context of what they are about to explore and introduces careers related to space science.
- Hypothesize gives the students a chance to reflect on what they already know.
- Investigate prompts student to explore specific exhibits in the Our Solar System gallery.
- Communicate Findings provides a time for students to share what they explored in the exhibits.
- Be the Scientists invites students to participate in an activity to synthesize what they've learned from their own investigation and from the information their group members have shared.
- Teacher Tips help adults start discussion.
Topic Guides
Pre-Field Trip Guide (PDF)
Patterns of Motion Guide (PDF)
Surfaces Guide (PDF)
Atmospheres Guide (PDF)
Exploration Guide (PDF)
Patterns of Motion Guide (PDF)
Surfaces Guide (PDF)
Atmospheres Guide (PDF)
Exploration Guide (PDF)
The 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper can be folded in half to make a card to use in the gallery.
For each of the themes, we have developed guides for specific age and ability levels. Each level explores the same principals and concepts with varying degrees of difficulty and thought provoking questions. We encourage you to select ONE theme to help focus your trip. Choose the level based on your students' needs.
Recommended Grade Levels:
- Beginner Guides Recommended for students in kindergarten through grade 2. Teachers and or chaperones are encouraged to work with the students to complete the guide.
- Intermediate Guides Recommended for students in grades 3-8.
- Advanced Guides Recommended for students in grades 9-12.
Guides are available for the following themes:
- Tour the Universe (Discover the four realms, Earth-Moon, Solar
System, Milky Way, and Universe of Galaxies, that make up our
Universe.)
Download PDF guide: Beginner | Intermediate - Exploring the Sky from Earth (Learn how the sky has
influenced the lives of people since the beginning of time and
continue to do so today.)
Download PDF guide: Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced
Illinois Learning Benchmarks at Adler
Do you need help aligning your field trip to the Illinois Learning Benchmarks in Science? We can help you plan your trip!
Visit our field trip page to download our visitor experience matrixes.
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Summer hours (June 15 through September 7): Everyday 9:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. |